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Firefighters extinguish fire at Glasgow scrapyard

A blaze that took hold at a Glasgow scrapyard has now been extinguished by firefighters.

The last crew left the scene in Helen Street, Govan shortly after noon on Monday, 6 March, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service can confirm.

Operations Control at Johnstone received around 200 calls in total after the fire took hold of a building at around 4.24pm on Sunday, 5 March.

They immediately mobilised an aerial rescue pump from Springburn and two fire appliances from Govan.

Firefighters arrived at the scene to discover the blaze was also affecting a quantity of tyres and vehicles.

An additional six fire appliances alongside further specialist units including and a Forward Control Unit, four aerial appliances and a High Volume Pump were then drafted to the incident.

A towering plume of thick black smoke could be seen for miles during the fire, which resulted in the loss of power to around 3,000 homes.

But the quick actions of the firefighters prevented it from spreading to a nearby electrical substation.

Power was restored to customers at around 9.50pm on Sunday after a site visit to the sub-station by Scottish Power engineers, who were accompanied by SFRS crews.

At its height, around 50 firefighters were involved in tackling the blaze, supported by additional SFRS personnel. Crews finally brought it under control almost 20 hours later.

The incident was thereafter gradually scaled down and no casualties were reported.

Deputy Assistant Chief Officer, Peter Heath, said: “This was a significant and very serious fire that was rapidly growing and issuing noxious smoke.

“It was not only a very serious but a potentially dangerous fire with the possibility to cause harm.

“The affected building was essentially bounded on three sides by risk.

“At the rear there was a railway line, at one side there was a commercial unit with many business and, on the opposite side, an electrical substation supplying power to a significant part of Glasgow as well as a hospital.

“We stopped the fire from reaching the substation however a fault was encountered and 3,000 homes were left without power. But we worked very hard with the electrical company to ensure power was restored as quickly as possible, and it was - after just two hours.

“Had that substation been involved then the incident could have been significantly far worse.”

DACO Heath added: “I want to take this opportunity to recognise the professionalism and commitment displayed by our firefighters whose swift actions brought this incident to a safe conclusion.

“I also want to thank the local community for their patience and tremendous support throughout as well as our partners.”